Sto’s House Presents: Beer With a Mutant Chaser by KT Pinto

“It’s beginning to look a lot like mutants…” Wha-wha what? Change a Christmas classic’s words for the sake of writing a book review? Who would stoop to an all-time low like that? Why, I would, that’s who. But you have to admit that mutants are pretty cool to read about no matter what the time of year is. The mutants of Sto’s House, a meeting place for the myriad multitude of Staten Island, are especially interesting to read about, thanks to the humorous writing style that is K.T. Pinto’s trademark. Pinto makes the mutants she writes about come alive for the reader, and, after all, isn’t that what the Christmas spirit is all about?

What is the cause for the hundreds of thousands of mutants who make the borough of New york City known as Staten Island their home? Could the culprit possibly be: “a garbage dump so large that it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records”? At least, the supposedly safe Staten Island landfill is definitely Culprit Number One with a bullet for the first-person narrator of Beer With A Mutant Chaser, the “Changer (a person who changes into a mutant)” Diana.

Diana is not noticeably a mutant on the surface; she doesn’t have extra pairs of arms, legs, or eyes like many mutants do; but, she has amazing powers of telekinesis and can detect whenever a mutant in the vicinity is attempting to use his/her powers. She can even make a car operate by using her mind–talk about “Going Green.” But, she also has an amazing talent for ticking off other mutants without even really trying to, resulting in her being chased throughout a store while shopping for a beanbag love seat by a decidedly un-angelic woman named Angel, who “had six hairy arms and two extra pairs of eyes.”

What is it that motivates Diana and the other mutants of Sto’s House? Is it an altruism born in their hearts, a way for them to benefit their fellow man/woman? No, it is instead a quest to locate the ultimate microbrew. ‘Tis a noble quest, to be sure; and, a pretty hilarious one, with lots of dangerous situations and suspense thrown in, making Beer With A Mutant Chaser a book anyone who loves the Urban Fantasy genre will want to add to their reading lists.

Besides Diana with her telekinetic powers, there’s Sto, the empath; Jay, the pyrotechnic; and many more. Who needs Buffy the Vampire Slayer when you’ve got these guys around? Just like in the X-Men comic books and movies, besides villainous evil-doers, Diana, Sto, Jay, and company, the general public considers them to be freaks who ought to be killed. There’s a distinct anti-Changer sentiment.

For example, when the mutant Randy tries to rescue the non-mutant Halera from where she’s shackled against a wall, she screams at him:”You filthy, disgusting mutant! I can’t believe I ever let you touch me!” It’s no wonder that sometimes the X-Men, not to mention Diana, Sto, etc., get a bit cheesed off at the attitudes of some of the general population. It’s hard to blame them, I suppose.Sto’s House Presents: Beer With a Mutant Chaser by K.T. Pinto is a veritable garden of mutant delights, a cornucopia of mutant coolness. If you’re an Urban Fantasy fan, and enjoy reading about the exploits of mutants–and you’re a beer devotee–you will love reading this book. Do yourselves a Christmas favor, or one just because you’re you and you deserve a favor now and then–check this book out today!